Pad supporting belt



Oct. 7, 1958 H. (LTOELLNER ET AL 2,354,980

PAD SUPPORTING BELT Filed Jan. 26, 1955 United States Patent Ofiice 2,854,980 Patented Oct. 7, 1958 PAD SUPPORTING BELT Howard C. Toellner, Old Bridge, and Jack A. Heckenkamp, Nixon, N. J., assignors to Personal Products Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 26, 1955, Serial No. 484,166

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-291) The present invention relates to belts and more particularly to belts for supporting sanitary napkins.

A sanitary napkin belt should be inexpensive, comfortable, inconspicuous when worn, and should provide the wearer with a sense of security. The belt should also remain in position on the body and hold the napkin securely and properly in place. Numerous sanitary napkin belts consisting of a waist encircling band and auxiliary straps which overlap or depend from the band have been developed heretofore in attempts to provide the desirable features noted above, but the belts have been unsatisfactory for various reasons. In the manufacture of such belts, the waist encircling band and the straps are customarily made as separate components which are joined together by overlapping and sewing. Besides being costly to manufacture, sanitary napkin belts made in this manner have ridges at the points at which the parts are overlapped and joined. These ridges are uncomfortable and often cause chafing since the belts are worn next to the body of the wearer. The ridges also cause conspicuous bulges beneath the clothing of the wearer, thereby making it apparent to an observer that a napkin belt is being worn. Belts of this type are also unsatisfactory in that they are not properly designed to conform to the wearers body, particularly during body movements, with the result that the waist encircling band tends to curl and slide down over the hips. Such curling of the belt also causes the formation of visible bulges in clothing and is another source of physical discomfort to the wearer.

We have found that these objections to sanitary napkin belts may be minimized by providing a belt consisting generally of a relatively wide waist encircling band having integral straps to which sanitary napkins may be attached. The straps, which may be formed by longitudinally dividing the front and rear parts of the waist encircling band, absorb the forces which cause a belt to slide down over the hips, or turn, or roll in use, or otherwise become displaced or distorted from its normal position. The belt of our invention closely conforms to the body, remains in position during normal body movements, and can be inconspicuously and comfortably worn. An important feature of our invention resides in providing a belt which, because of its integral construction, can be made easily and readily at low cost and with a minimum of manufacturing operations.

A construction constituting a preferred embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a belt embodying the invention being worn and illustrates the form the belt assumes when a sanitary napkin is attached;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the belt illustrating its integral construction.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the belt illustrating the position the straps assume when a sanitary napkin is attached and the position the straps assume when a sanitary napkin is not attached.

In the drawings, there is shown a band designated generally by the reference character 1 which is of woven or knitted elastic, resilient material and sufficiently wide to lie flat against the body of the wearer in a comfortable position. The front and rear portions of the band are longitudinally divided or slit, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, parallel to the upper and lower edges of the band for a distance approximately one-quarter of the total length of the band to form a waist encircling portion 2 and diametrically opposed integral front and rear straps 3 which, as will be described below, assume most of the forces imposed upon the belt when a sanitary napkin is attached. It is preferred that the band be longitudinally divided so that the width of the straps is no greater than one-half the width of the band. Straps which are approximately one-third as wide as the band have been found particularly suitable. The straps so formed are an integral part of the belt and overlapped and joined parts are thus eliminated. The mid-points of the front and rear straps may be provided with tabs 4 or buckles 5 to which a sanitary napkin 6 can be attached.

When the belt is worn without a sanitary napkin attached, the waist encircling portion 2 of the belt and the integral front and rear straps 3 lie fiat against the body of the wearer, with the straps and the waist encircling portion merging smoothly Where they meet, having their edges and their outer surfaces in the same plane, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, thus presenting a continuous surface throughout the belt. In efiect, the belt is substantially the same as a single piece of elastic material encircling the body of the wearer and uncomfortable ridges which cause visible bulges beneath clothing are eliminated.

vWhen a sanitary napkin is attached to the belt, the straps 3, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, are distorted downwardly in the manner shown. Due to the integral construction of the belt, the straps move freely and assume most of the forces which normally cause the waist encircling portion to turn, or roll, or slide downwardly over the hips. The waist encircling portion of the belt is substantially unaffected by the forces and stresses imposed during body movements and remains comfortably in position on the body of the wearer. Since the straps 3 merge smoothly with the waist encircling portion 2, the belt conforms closely to body contours and unattractive bulges are eliminated.

The belt can be made simply and economically since a minimum number of operations are required in its manufacture. The belt may be woven in one piece with the straps formed integrally during weaving. A preferred way of making the belt is to use elastic webbing referred to as split line oif-center webbing. Such webbing has upper and lower sections joined together by threads and can be formed in a single operation. The upper and lower sections may be obtained in any desired widths. To make the belt from the webbing, a length of the webbing is looped and the ends joined to form a band. The front and rear portions of the band are then slit the desired lengths along the line of threads joining the upper and lower sections, thus forming the belt and the integral straps. The ends of the slit may be stitched for reinforcement purposes to prevent the slit from enlarging. The sanitary napkin attaching tabs or buckles may then be attached to the mid-points of the straps.

It is apparent that numerous variations, substitutions, modifications and the like may be made in the foregoing illustrative example without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sanitary napkin belt the combination comprising a relatively wide resilient waist encircling band, the

front and rear portions thereof being longitudinally divided to form diametrically opposed straps, said straps being approximately one-third the width of said band, said straps being downwardly deformable by a downward pull on the mid-points thereof.

2. In a sanitary napkin belt the combination comprising a relatively wide resilient waist encircling band, the front and rear portions thereof being longitudinally divided to form integral straps, the width of said straps being less than one-half the width of said band, said straps being downwardly deformable by a downward pull on the mid-points thereof.

3. In a sanitary napkin belt the combination comprising a relatively wide resilient waist encircling band, the front and rear portions thereof being longitudinally divided for a distance approximately one-quarter of the length of the band to form straps, the width of said straps being less than one-half the width of said band, said straps 4 being downwardly deformable by a downward pull on the mid-points thereof.

4. In a sanitary napkinbelt, the combination comprising a relatively wide resilient waist encircling band, the front thereof being longitudinally divided to form an integral strap, the width of said strap being less than one-half the width of said band, said strap being downwardly deformable by a downward pull on the midpoint thereof. 7

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,633,847 Stringham Apr. 7, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 268,150 Switzerland Dec. 16, 1950 629,717 Great Britain Sept. 27, 1949 

